Monday, April 16, 2007

Guns

Even while the terrible trajedy at Virginia Tech was still being reported some of the gun lunatics were already arguing that it could have been prevented had laws been passed allowing students to carry guns. Think of that. What a terrific idea. Every student should have a gun, just like every citizen should have one. We could have had a great shootout at the Virginia Tech corral. I like the argument: "guns don't kill people, people do." Yes, it's true, people kill other people - WITH GUNS! It's true there are other ways to kill each other, like with clubs and knives and poisons and even frozen legs of lamb. But it's so much easier with guns. Actually I'm not a proponent of gun control. Having grown up with guns and hunting, and living now in a rural environment where I have guns, I have nothing against the ownership of guns per se. However, I don't think anyone needs an AK 47 or a 50 caliber machine gun, or hand grenades, or personal tanks, or whatever it is next the NRA is going to promote. Guns for hunting or home protection, okay. Guns for mass murder, no.

Who does Bush think he's talking to? I accidentally again today caught part of a speech he was making somewhere. He literally said that if we didn't defeat terrorism in Iraq there would be death and destruction all over the world, including here at home. This was such a pathetic example of fearmongering and complete nonsense it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. Of course there are terrorists. Thanks to Bush/Cheney there are now lots of them in Iraq where formerly there were none. And of course terrorists might strike anywhere at any time. Obviously this is a problem. But to implictly compare them to the hordes of Genghis Khan or the military might of the German Reich, is clearly a bit of overstatement. What is it that Bush/Cheney can't understand: the Iraqis want us out of their country and to leave them alone. That ought to be easy enough even for Dumbo and his Puppetmaster to grasp. In reality I'm sure they do understand it. They just won't give up control of all that oil, and all those potential profits no matter what. Who cares how many more innocent Iraqis have to be killed, or how many more of our troops? Oil is more precious even than blood. Black gold. The stuff that dreams are made of.

Reality suggests to me that if terrorists wish to strike at the United States there is no reason they should have to wait until we pull out of Iraq. Indeed, they would be wise to do it now rather than later when we have all our troops home. The claim that they will follow us here if we leave Iraq is not only stupid, it's actually childish. Apparently the Republican base still believes this. Of course they believe their recent ancestors cavorted with dinosaurs, Noah built an ark, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and the sun revolves around the earth. They also believe women prefer straightened coat hangers in alleys to medical science and people actively choose to be homosexuals. "Nuke their ass and steal their gas." We, being the most superior and best people on earth, deserve everything we get (don't think too long or carefully about that).